Rachel Gillespie, MS, RD

Department of Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences
Research Program Manager,
485 E Gray St., Room 023
Phone: 502-852-5240

Rachel Gillespie is a PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky and Program Manager at the University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences. Her research centers on health equity, food and nutrition security, and the implementation of community-based interventions in rural and underserved populations. She has contributed to several federally funded projects, including NIH, CDC, USDA, and is actively involved in collaborative public health initiatives that bridge academic research and applied practice. Rachel brings expertise in project management, cross-sector partnership development, and mixed-methods research design.

Publications

(*Under Review)

*Gillespie, R., Maksi, S., Bush, J., Cockerham, C., Luecking, C., Deierlein, A., Wasser, H., Gustafson, A. (2025). Fresh Funds for Moms: A 12-Week Food As Medicine Grocery Prescription Feasibility Program Among Food-Insecure Pregnant Women with High Risk in Urban Communities. Frontiers in Health Services.

*Cardarelli, K., Gillespie, R., Hoover, A.G.,Francis, D.B., Kiviniemi, M.T. (2025) Barriers and Facilitating Factors for COVID-19 Vaccination in Rural Appalachia. BMC Public Health.

*Hogg-Graham, R., DeWitt, R., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Gillespie, R., Cardareli, K. (2025). Informal, yet Instrumental: Community Member Perspectives on a System Addressing Health Promotion in Rural Appalachia. Frontiers in Public Health.

Busse, K. R., Poppe, K. I., Wu, Q., Jilcott Pitts, S. B., Haynes-Maslow, L., Ammerman, A. S., Krzyzanowski Guerra, K., Plakias, Z., Hanks, A. S., Garrity, K., Gillespie, R., Houghtaling, B., Seguin-Fowler, R. A., & Garner, J. A. (2024). Household Food Sourcing Patterns and Their Associations With Food Insecurity in Appalachian Ohio. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, S2212-2672(24)00722-6.

Anderson Steeves, E., Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E., Barr, M., Cox, B., Hudson, T., … Gustafson, A. (2024). Barriers and Facilitators to Online Grocery Shopping Among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Participants: A Mixed Method Study. Ecology of Food and Nutrition, 1–20.

Cardarelli KM, DeWitt E, Gillespie R, Bandy N, Norman-Burgdolf H. Enduring Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Access, Nutrition, and Well-Being in Rural Appalachia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2024; 21(5):594.

Norman-Burgdolf, H., DeWitt, E., Gillespie, R., Cardarelli, K., Slone, S., Gustafson, A. (2023). Impact of community-driven interventions on dietary and physical activity outcomes among a cohort of adults in a rural Appalachian county in Eastern Kentucky, 2019-2022. Frontiers in Public Health, 11.

Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E., Trude, A., Haynes-Maslow, L., Hudson, T., Anderson-Steeves, E., Barr, M., Gustafson, A. (2022). Barriers and Facilitators of Online Grocery Services: Perceptions from Rural and Urban Grocery Store Managers. Nutrients, 14(18), 3794.

DeWitt, E., Gillespie, R., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Slone, S., Cardarelli, K., Gustafson, A. (2022). Exploring the Relationship between SNAP Enrollment and Food Insecurity in Rural Appalachia. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 1-12.

Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E., Slone, S., Cardarelli, K., & Gustafson, A. (2022). The Impact of a Grocery Store Closure in One Rural Highly Obese Appalachian Community on Shopping Behavior and Dietary Intake. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(6), 3506.

Gustafson, A., Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E., Cox, B., Dunaway, B., Haynes-Maslow, L., Anderson-Steeves, E., Trude, A. (2022). Online Pilot Grocery Intervention among Rural and Urban Residents Aimed to Improve Purchasing Habits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(2), 871.

Cardarelli, K., DeWitt, E., Gillespie, R., Graham, R.H., Norman-Burgdolf, H., & Mullins, J. T. (2021). Policy implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on food security in rural America: Evidence from Appalachian Kentucky. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(23), 12792.

Norman-Burgdolf, H., DeWitt, E., Cardarelli, K., Gillespie, R., Slone, S., Gustafson, A. (2021). Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among adults in rural Appalachia.  Preventative Medicine Reports, 24, 101642.

Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Dunaway, B., Gustafson, A. (2021). Community Based Efforts Aim to Improve the Food Environment Within a Highly Obese Rural Appalachian County. Nutrients, 13(7), 2200.

Jones, N., Dlugonski, D., Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E., Lianekhammy, J., Slone, S., Cardarelli, K. (2021). Physical Activity Barriers and Assets in Rural Appalachian Kentucky: A Mixed-Methods Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(14), 7646.

Cardarelli, K., DeWitt, E., Gillespie, R., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Jones, N., & Mullins, J. T. (2020). Peer Reviewed: “We’re, Like, the Most Unhealthy People in the Country”: Using an Equity Lens to Reduce Barriers to Healthy Food Access in Rural Appalachia. Preventing Chronic Disease, 17.

DeWitt, E., Gillespie, R., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Cardarelli, K. M., Slone, S., & Gustafson, A. (2020). Rural SNAP Participants and Food Insecurity: How Can Communities Leverage Resources to Meet the Growing Food Insecurity Status of Rural and Low-Income Residents? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(17), 6037.

Gustafson, A., Jilcott Pitts, S., McDonald, J., Ford, H., Connelly, P., Gillespie, R., ... & Mullins, J. (2017). Direct Effects of the Home, School, and Consumer Food Environments on the Association between Food Purchasing Patterns and Dietary Intake among Rural Adolescents in Kentucky and North Carolina, 2017. International journal of environmental research and public health, 14(10), 1255

Conference Papers

Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Jones, N. Role of Incentive Influence on Food Purchasing Behavior in an Impoverished Rural Food Environment. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Annual Meeting, Auckland, New Zealand 2020. 

Jones, N., Norman-Burgdolf, H., Gillespie, R., DeWitt, E. Perceived Barriers and Its Effect on Physical Activity in Geographically Isolated Rural Communities. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Annual Meeting, Auckland, New Zealand 2020.

Norman-Burgdolf, H., Jones, N., DeWitt, E., Gillespie, R. Impact of PSE Strategies on Health Behaviors in a Rural Setting: Baseline Findings from a Prospective Cohort Study. International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity Annual Meeting, Auckland, New Zealand 2020.

 

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